Planting trees and shrubs with unusual bark can add a lot of interest to the winter garden. Branches will be bare, but in many cases that can be a plus. Consider red twig dogwood , a ho-hum shrub during summer that becomes a dramatic, eye-catching showstopper in the snow.

Plants for the winter garden

Updated December 8, 2010 2:15 PM
Newsday

Bark

Planting trees and shrubs with unusual bark can add a lot of interest to the winter garden. Branches will be bare, but in many cases that can be a plus. Consider red twig dogwood , a ho-hum shrub during summer that becomes a dramatic, eye-catching showstopper in the snow. (Credit: Newsday / Ken Spencer)

Though you're cleaning up the perennials, raking leaves and mulching over the roses, there's no need to give up on the garden until spring. You can keep it going all year with these winter workhorse plants. -- BY JESSICA DAMIANO...

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Though you're cleaning up the perennials, raking leaves and mulching over the roses, there's no need to give up on the garden until spring. You can keep it going all year with these winter workhorse plants. --
BY JESSICA DAMIANO

(Credit: Newsday / Ken Spencer)

Bark

Planting trees and shrubs with unusual bark can add a lot of interest to the winter garden. Branches will be bare, but in many cases that can be a plus. Consider red twig dogwood , a ho-hum shrub during summer that becomes a dramatic, eye-catching showstopper in the snow.

Not all hollies are evergreen. Winterberry holly , for example, loses its leaves in the fall, but the red or yellow berries remain on the branches throughout winter.
More Gardening 101 : Step-by-step how-tos for a great garden, from Jessica Damiano, Newsday's Garden Detective.